ATTENTION: Star Trek haters and/or book snobby types...if you've stumbled onto this review looking for a lambasting…ATTENTION: Star Trek haters and/or book snobby types...if you've stumbled onto this review looking for a lambasting, tirade-filled rant-o-rama, than you'll want to back up, flip a Uey and hush puppy on outta here because that isn't on the menu. Joe Haldeman,SF master, has spread his skill at smooth, satisfying story scribing all over the Star Trek universe and I'm just beaming with happy. Haldeman once again proves that when you take a beloved spacey playground (Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.) with truly iconic characters…and add an author who can ACTUALLY write, you can certainly produce an entertaining and high quality story filled with readability.You did it right, Joe. You did it right and you did it uniquely. In fact, before I even describe the plot, I want to take a moment and give special recognition to Mr. Haldeman for including at least 4 things in this story that I have not seen in Star Trek before:One: A member of the always expendable security detachment has his face ripped the fuck off…yes, that is correct Treksters. We had a full on facial flensing courtesy of Joey “cool” Haldeman. Two: Not only that, but JH also gave us “expendable security officer #2” having his grill completely wiped away like he was some kind of human etch a sketch. No eyes, nose, lips...nothing. Smooth as a baby's butt sans crack. Three: Moving right along, probably the biggest shocker to me was that Joe “boundaries are for wimps” Haldeman included in the back story of one of the female scientists that she had an abortion earlier in life because having a child at that time would have prevented her from joining Starfleet. Regardless of how you may feel about the topic, hats off Joe for having the melons to include it in a ST story. Four: One word…genitalia. Let me explain this last one as I know it …